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Grilling

Margherita Pizza on the Grill

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This Margherita Pizza on the Grill is one of the best pizzas ever! If you have ever had a pizza baked on a pizza stone on the grill, you know how good it is. Crispy bottom crust with just a hint of smoke from the grill. When you make a Margherita Pizza, every ingredient you use has to shine because it is made with just a handful of simple ingredients. 

Looking for some other great grill ideas? Why not try this incredible BBQ Chicken Pizza if you are looking for a nonvegetarian option for grilled pizza? Or, if you are looking to create a pizza and wings night for the gang, why not include these Korean Chicken Wings; they have a subtle heat that would pair perfectly with pizza on the grill!

Whole Margherita pizza on a wooden board cut into wedges.

Making your own pizza dough is so easy; it just takes a little time for the dough to rise. And the homemade Neapolitan-style pizza sauce in this recipe is the perfect accompaniment to this amazing pizza.

HELPFUL ITEMS FOR THIS RECIPE

This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn a small portion from qualifying purchases at no extra charge to you.

Round Pizza Stone

16″ Outdoor Pizza Oven

Large Pizza Peel

Danish Dough Whisk

WHAT DO YOU NEED TO MAKE Margherita Pizza on the grill?

Ingredients to make Margherita Pizza on the Grill on a marble countertop.

As I mentioned, because of the simplicity of a Margherita pizza, each of the ingredients you choose must be of excellent quality! From the dough to the pizza sauce, to the cheese, and fresh basil you use! For a hands-off version of the dough, try our Bread Machine Pizza Dough.

INGREDIENTS

  • 00 Flour
  • Yeast (Instant or quick rising)
  • Sugar
  • Kosher salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Warm water
  • Homemade pizza dough (or store-bought)
  • Homemade Neapolitan pizza sauce ( or store-bought)
  • Fresh mozzarella or burrata
  • Fresh basil leaves
  • Cornmeal

How to make homemade Pizza dough

Start by preparing the dough; mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl or 6 qt bucket with a lid. Add the olive oil and warm water. Stir a wooden spoon or Danish dough whisk, making sure you collect all the dry ingredients from the bottom.

The dough should be sticky and a little ragged. If it seems too dry, add a tbsp of water at a time. Mixing between each addition, be careful not to add too much water.

Once mixed, cover the container loosely (do not snap the lid on tightly). Set in a warm spot and allow to rise for about 2 hours. The dough should double in size.

Lightly flour your work surface and scrape the dough out of the bowl or bucket. Grease a small baking sheet with olive oil. Cut the dough into 4 equal pieces and form each into a ball. Place the dough balls on the oiled baking sheet and drizzle with additional olive oil.

Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Trust me, rolling out the dough for your pizza when it is cold is much easier!

You can keep the dough in your refrigerator for a day or two, or you can freeze any remaining dough. Simply wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in your freezer; defrost the frozen dough in your refrigerator for 24 hours before using.

The best pizza sauce recipe I have found is, again, simple but fabulous. Here is the link for the Recipe. The pizza dough was inspired by a great baker named Zoe Francois; we love to watch her create breads and pizzas.

How to make homemade Margherita Pizza on the grill

Place the pizza stone onto your grill and preheat the grill to hot, 500 degrees F. You need to cook your pizza over high heat. Take a ball of the cold dough and place it on a lightly floured surface. Using your fingertips, press the dough out into a circle about 8 inches in diameter.

Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a circle about 12-13 inches in diameter. You are looking for a uniform thickness of about 3/8 of an inch. You can roll up the edges or leave them flat, whatever you prefer.

Dust a pizza peel with cornmeal and carefully transfer the dough to the pizza peel. The cornmeal will help ensure that the dough will slide off the pizza peel onto the pizza stone when it’s time to cook it.

Spoon the sauce on the dough and spread it out evenly. Be careful not to add too much sauce to your pizza. Remember, the dough is quite thin, and too much sauce will make the slices too heavy and wet.

Once your grill and pizza stone are preheated, slide the pizza onto the hot stone and close the lid. Let the pizza cook for about 5 minutes.

Margherita Pizza on the grill with cheese added to the pizza.

Open the lid and place the fresh mozzarella or burrata on the pizza. You don’t want to put the cheese on at the beginning as it will melt too much and run all over your pizza.

At this point, you can also check the bottom of the crust. If it seems to be cooking unevenly, you can use your pizza peel to spin the pizza around on the pizza stone. Then close the lid again. Continue to cook the pizza until you have a “Leopard Spotted” bottom on your pizza. It should take another 2-4 minutes. Your cheese should also be nicely melted at this point too!

Finishing your Margherita Pizza

Cooked Margherita pizza on a pizza peel with fresh basil on top.

When your pizza is done, remove it from the grill using your pizza peel and place it on a large cutting board. Add the fresh basil, tearing the larger leaves into small pieces.

Margherita pizza on a wooden cutting board sliced into wedges.

Look at that ooey gooey cheese and that tomato sauce with its rich tomato taste. You can drizzle a little extra virgin olive oil over the pizza just before you serve it if you like. I find it adds a bit more sophistication and flavor to the pizza.

This pizza would also work great in the many pizza ovens that are on the market now.

Can I change UP THE RECIPE?

Whole Margherita pizza on a wooden board with fresh basil on top.

The short answer is yes, of course you can! I know people who need to have meat on their pizza. If you are one of those people, then add some pepperoni or salami. There are so many pizza topping ideas. Get creative and make it your own!

I would offer a word of caution. Be careful not to overload your pizza with toppings when you are first starting to make pizza. The toppings can cause your pizza to cook differently. Your crust may also be less firm, and your pizza slices will be droopy.

You may have to adjust the thickness of your pizza crust to accommodate the extra toppings also. This may result in increased cook time so your crust isn’t doughy or under-done.

Slices of Margherita pizza from the grill on a wooden cutting board.

Pin it HERE!!

This Margherita Pizza on the Grill is quite simply amazing; the crispy homemade crust, the fresh taste of the tomato sauce and cheese pair perfectly together!

Pin it HERE!!

This Margherita Pizza on the Grill is quite simply amazing; the crispy homemade crust, the fresh taste of the tomato sauce and cheese pair perfectly together!
Margherita pizza on the grill cut into wedges on a wooden board.

Margherita Pizza on the Grill

Ken Noland
Nothing is better than a homemade Margherita Pizza cooked on the grill! The fresh flavors of the simple ingredients shine through in this amazing recipe!
5 from 5 votes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes mins
Cook Time 12 minutes mins
Additional Time 3 hours hrs
Total Time 3 hours hrs 17 minutes mins
Course Grilling
Cuisine American
Servings 1 – 12 Inch Pizza
Calories 733 kcal

Ingredients
 

Pizza Dough

  • 4 cups 00 flour double “0” flour
  • ½ Tbsp. yeast instant or quick rising
  • ½ Tbsp. sugar
  • ½ Tbsp. Kosher salt
  • 1 ½ Tbsps. extra virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
  • 1 ½ – 2 cups lukewarm water

Margherita Pizza

  • 1 ball of pizza dough 11 to 12 oz
  • 1 cup homemade Neapolitan pizza sauce See Recipe
  • 8 oz fresh mozzarella or burrata cut or torn into 1 inch pieces
  • 6 – 8 fresh basil leaves
  • Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
  • Corn meal for sprinkling on the pizza stone and pizza peel to prevent the dough from sticking

Instructions
 

  • Pizza Dough
  • Add all the dry ingredients to a large bowl or 6 qt (6 litre) bucket with a lid.
  • Add the olive oil and 1 ½ cups of lukewarm water.
  • Stir using a wooden spoon or a Danish dough whisk, making sure that you collect all the dry ingredients from the corners of the container. Your dough should be sticky and a little ragged. Add additional water a bit at a time if you find your dough too dry, but be careful not to add too much.
  • Once mixed, cover your bowl loosely with plastic wrap or place the lid on the bucket (DO NOT snap the lid tightly closed as the gasses from the yeast need to escape!)
  • Place in a warm spot and allow to rise for about 2 hours. The dough should more than double in size.
  • Lightly flour a flat surface with flour and scrape the dough gently out of the bowl or bucket on the counter.
  • Grease a small baking sheet with olive oil.
  • Cut the dough into 4 equal size pieces and form into balls.
  • Place the balls on an olive oil-coated baking sheet, drizzle with additional olive oil, and cover with plastic wrap.
  • Refrigerate the dough for at least an hour before rolling it out.
  • Margherita Pizza
  • Place a pizza stone generously sprinkled with corn meal on your grill and heat the grill with the lid closed to 500 degrees F.
  • Lightly flour or work surface and place the cold ball of dough on the flour.
  • Using your fingertips, press the dough out into a circle about 8 inches in diameter.
  • Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out into a circle about 12 – 13 inches in diameter. You want the dough to be about 3/8 of an inch thick and of uniform thickness.
  • You can roll up the edges if you like or leave them flat.
  • Transfer the dough to a pizza peel dusted with cornmeal.
  • Spoon the pizza sauce evenly over the dough.
  • Once your grill is preheated, slide the pizza onto the hot pizza stone and close the lid.
  • Let the pizza cook for about 5 minutes. Open the lid and place the mozzarella or burrata on the pizza, then close the lid again.
  • Allow the pizza to continue to cook until the bottom of the dough is crispy and “leopard spotted”.
  • Using the pizza peel, remove the pizza from the pizza stone and place it on a large cutting board.
  • Add the fresh basil, tearing the larger leaves into smaller pieces.
  • Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and cut into wedges. Enjoy!!

Equipment

Bertello Grande 16" Outdoor Pizza Oven - Gas & Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven AS SEEN ON SHARK TANK - PATENT PENDING
Bertello Grande 16″ Outdoor Pizza Oven – Gas & Wood Fired Outdoor Pizza Oven AS SEEN ON SHARK TANK – PATENT PENDING
16"x 0.63" Round Cordierite Pizza Stone
16″x 0.63″ Round Cordierite Pizza Stone
Q's INN Large Pizza Peel 16 inch with 37 inch Detachable and Adjustable Handle The overall size Pizza Paddle is 14x16 Inch and 53 Inch long
Q’s INN Large Pizza Peel 16 inch with 37 inch Detachable and Adjustable Handle The overall size Pizza Paddle is 14×16 Inch and 53 Inch long
FUANRTK Danish Dough Whisk Bread Mixer,2 Pack Premium Stainless Steel Dutch Whisk With a Dough Scraper for Bread, Pastry or Pizza Dough - Perfect Baking
FUANRTK Danish Dough Whisk Bread Mixer,2 Pack Premium Stainless Steel Dutch Whisk With a Dough Scraper for Bread, Pastry or Pizza Dough – Perfect Baking

Notes

You can freeze any remaining dough balls; simply wrap them in plastic wrap and place them in your freezer, and defrost them in your refrigerator for 24 hours before using.
You can cook your pizza in the oven; make sure you preheat your pizza stone in the oven just like when you are cooking on the grill. If you don’t have a pizza stone in a pinch, you can use a pizza pan.

Nutrition

Serving: 1Calories: 733kcalCarbohydrates: 71gProtein: 30gFat: 37gSaturated Fat: 15gPolyunsaturated Fat: 20gCholesterol: 68mgSodium: 1851mgFiber: 7gSugar: 9g
Nutrition calculation is an estimation only. If you need nutritional calculations for medical reasons, please use a source that you trust.
Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!


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Hi, I’m Ken thanks for stopping by BBQing with the Nolands! I was born and raised in Western Canada. I grew up on the great wide open farmlands that produce some of the worlds’ best livestock and grains.
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